Situating Dewey's Pragmatic Technology: From knowing and idea to meaning and purpose
Steven Poulakos
(poulakos@uiuc.edu)
(ready to use)
ASK
Partner Projects
| Distributed Knowledge Research |
Grade Levels
| Undergraduate, Graduate, Continuing |
Unit Keywords
|
Dewey, pragmatic technology, LIS450pt, inquiry, experience |
Rationale of the Unit
The purpose of this template is to facilitate a discussion of Dewey's pragmatic technology through notions of knowing and idea and how they relate to meaning and purpose.
The primary goal is to revisit some of these fundamental concepts in our class discussion to see how we can apply them to our own inquiry. |
Background and Resources
Background
Exploration of the keyword " artifact" is what first motivated me to explore this topic. I was interested to see how Dewey views not only material things, but experience, idea, knowing and even meaning as artifacts. I see this distinction as having great importance in exploring any application of inquiry.
Readings
Please follow the link for each of the readings below to view my notes and links to the full-text resource if available.
Bently, Arthur F. (1954). The human skin: Philosophy's last line of defense. In Sydney Ratner, editor, Inquiry into inquiries, (pp. 195-211). Boston, MA: Beacon Press. (This reading was handed out in class)
Bentley draws on Dewey and others in developing a notion of where knowledge lies. He argues that it exists within the same spatial boundaries as the knower of the knowledge, which he calls a "situationally systemic perspective". This paper is important because it nicely demonstrates the importance of Inquiry. Inquiry is a knower knowing knowledge activity. As Bentley argues, the knower cannot be separated from the knowledge. When exploring the importance of an Inquiry-based experience or pragmatic technology, it is helpful to have Bentley's perspective on inner and outer'ness.
Hickman, Larry A. (1990). "Knowing as a Technological Artifact", Chapter 2 in John Dewey's pragmatic technology. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
"The artifact of properly controlled inquiry is knowing"(Hickman, 19).
In chapter 2, Hickman (and Dewey) reject inner and outerness in favor of a different terminology: natural and transcendental. This chapter helps see how Dewey situates pragmatic technology and why Dewey says that the artifact of properly controlled inquiry is knowing. In doing this, Hickman discusses reflective vs. non-reflective inquiry, notions of worth and meaning, and examines the thought function (or organization), which brings us to the third reading below.
Dewey, John (1910). "Experience and Objective Idealism", Chapter 8 in The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy and Other Essays. New York: Henry Holt and Company: 198 - 225.
Dewey presents the relation between idealism as a philosophic system and experience. In refuting idealism, he compares the two perspectives by discussing the thought function, how it relates to experience and inquiry, and how meaning and value are derived from experience. (Note: If your running short on time, this reading is lowest in priority)
Kelley, E. C. (1947). Some Common Assumptions of Education. In Education for What is Real. New York: Harper.
Kelley, E. C. (1947). Education Can Be More Real. In Education for What is Real. New York: Harper.
The two Kelley readings above will help us ground our discussion of meaning and purpose. Kelley provides an excellent analysis of the troubles of our traditional education system. He then explores how a more meaningful educational system would function and how it would impact the learner and his/her community.
Other Resources
My discussion of the keyword "artifact" may be found here: http://www.isrl.uiuc.edu/~poulakos/lis450pt/artifact.html
Bentley related links:
http://www-personal.monash.edu.au/~dpalmer/scholars.htm#Bentley
http://www-personal.monash.edu.au/~dpalmer/bentley.htm#Skin
|
Activities and Open-ended problems
Personal activity
Below are a few questions that I'd like you to consider and possibly share during our class period.
What are some of the tools you often use to support your reflective inquiry?
Of those tools, how many of them are "habit" oriented? How did they affect your inquiry?
How many of the tools that you came up with are new? What keeps them "new" rather than becoming habit oriented?
How do you value the significance or meaning of your personal inquiries?
How much of your valuing is habit versus something new?
|
Dialogues, Discussions, and Presentations
Discussion questions from the readings
What is the Dewey equivalent to Bentley's notion of a superfice-bounded area?
What is the relationship between Bentley's phenomena and Dewey's technology or artifact?
In Hickman, how do meanings go from being extrinsic to intrinsic?
How does "technology" compare to "pragmatic technology" in terms of knowing?
From page 210 of the Dewey reading, what does it mean to do something consciously and to do something blindly? Could they both have the same outcome? If so, how would they be different?
From the Kelley readings, we see Kelley's perspective on the ills of our educational system. What might the meaning of the current educational system be?
|
Assessment, Related Questions, and Story of the Unit
ASSESSMENT
RELATED QUESTIONS
STORY OF THE UNIT -- How did it go?
RESPONSES FROM OTHERS (teachers)
|
If you want to add your comments on this Unit, please login first.
|
